How Many Parents Name Their Children After Sports Stars?

Last week, the Social Security Administration released its official list of 2010’s most popular baby names. While I don’t really care that Jacob was the most popular name in 2010 for boys and Isabella for girls, I do enjoy playing around on the SSA’s Popular Baby Names website, which lists the 1000 most popular boys’ and girls’ names for each year since 2000.

After checking the popularity of my children’s names (Malachi was the 163rd most common boys’ name in 2010; neither Meyer nor Resha were in the top 1000), I decided to look into the names of popular athletes to see how many people were naming their children after popular sports stars.

Of course, the data for names such as Michael, Tom, Tim, Maria, and Mia isn’t terribly meaningful. These names are so common that there’s no way to know if parents are naming their children after Jordan, Phelps, Brady, Lincecum, Sharapova, or Hamm. But more unique athlete names yield some interesting results.

While neither LeBron nor Dwyane with the y before the a have been among the 1000 most popular baby names in the past decade, Peyton and Kobe have. The graphs below show the popularity of the boys’ names “Peyton” and “Kobe” from 2000 to 2010. (Note that these graphs only reflect the names’ popularity relative to other boys’ names, not the number or percentage of boys born in a given year named Peyton or Kobe.)

Notice that Peyton peaked in 2007, the year when Peyton Manning was named MVP of Super Bowl XLI. You’ll also notice a dip in 2002 and 2003 following the Jim Mora “Playoffs?” rant and the Colts’ 41-0 playoff loss to the Jets in Tony Dungy’s first year. The name Eli made a jump in 2008, following Eli Manning’s Super Bowl win, and again in 2010. (I wonder if the 2010 Elis are the little brothers of the 2007 Peytons.)

It will be interesting to see if Peyton gets a bump in 2011, thanks to Mr. Hillis. If you can make it onto the Madden cover, you can probably make it into the delivery room. Peyton is also a popular girls’ name, but I don’t know if that has anything to do with sports.

Kobe, after a strong showing from 2000 until 2002 (the years the Lakers won the NBA title), fell drastically in 2004. Kobe Bryant was arrested for sexual assault late in 2003. The name had a minor renaissance in 2008, the year the Lakers returned to the NBA Finals.

Danica jumped into the top 1000 in 2005, the year that Ms. Patrick made her Indy 500 debut. Danica ranked 611 in 2005 and rose to 353 in 2006. It has been in the top 500 ever since. (I’m guessing that Danica’s recent popularity has to do with the race car driver and not the actress who played Winnie Cooper.)

The Baby Name Wizard has data on the top 1000 baby names per decade going back to the 1880s. It tells us that Kareem, which was not in the top 1000 in the 1960s, was #471 in the 1970s. (Lew Alcindor became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971.) Ryne came from nowhere to crack the top 1000 in the 1980s (822) and 1990s (904). Nice going, Cubs fans. And Shaquille was the 482nd most common baby name in the 1990s. It had never been in the top 1000 before and hasn’t been since.

But not all athletes, regardless of their ability or popularity, have been able to pass along their names to younger generations.

Though the Big Dipper’s skills on the hardwood were transcendent, Wilton ranked 994 in the 1960s, down from 758 in the 1950s and 610 in the 1940s. It fell out of the top 1000 in the 1970s and hasn’t returned. Likewise, Otto Graham’s Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Browns couldn’t keep his first name from fading into obscurity. More recently, neither Sidney Crosby nor Candace Parker were able to give their respective names a boost. And while Landon has been climbing the baby-name charts, that trend began long before Landon Donovan became a household name.

We can’t know for sure how much influence popular athletes have had on baby names without interviewing the parents who have chosen these names. (“Basketball player? We named him after his great uncle Shaquille.”) While my wife and I didn’t give much thought to naming any of our children after athletes*, I think it’s safe to say that a lot of people do. I know a couple who named their son after Brazilian soccer great Romário de Souza Faria, and I’m guessing that the number of kids named Peyton and Danica has something to do with the sports stars of the same name.

Josh Tinley writes the Away From The Action column at Midwest Sports Fans, covering all aspects of sport aside from what actually happens on the field, court, or track. Josh grew up in Indianapolis and graduated from the University of Evansville and Vanderbilt Divinity School. He is the author of Kneeling in the End Zone: Spiritual Lessons From the World of Sportsand the managing editor of LinC, a weekly curriculum for teens that explores the intersection of faith and culture. Josh lives outside Nashville with his wife, Ashlee, and children, Meyer (7), Resha Kate (5), and Malachi (3). He will not allow himself to die before the Evansville Purple Aces make another trip to the NCAA Tournament. Follow him on Twitter @joshtinley or send him an e-mail.

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